The demonstration shows all the steps to sterilize. Then, I watched the one on canning tomatoes, from the very beginning to the finished jar, and that’s not difficult. The discussion yesterday on a regular thread about canning tomatoes is why I started looking at this and there was info. on our gardening thread about tomatoes and canning.
Just looked on Amazon and the #1 seller for a water bath canner is a dark porcelain one with the jar rack for $19.97.
If I follow the steps in the Ball book, plus I saw those demonstrations about how to sterilize, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Is there something in particular that bothers you about some step that allows for improper canning?
I suggest that you start off by researching the purpose and science behind pasteurization and canning.
/johnny
Marcella, for water bath canning, as in tomatoes, you really don’t need a special “water bath canner”. Although if it has a rack to pull the jars out in one fell swoop, it makes it easier..
Basically for a water bath, all you need is a deep pot, with either a folded towel or a little round pot roast rack flat thingy, that separates the jars from setting against the bottom of the pot..the post needs to have at least two inches covering the tops of the jars..
For pressure canning, unless you have a gas stove, or a butane or gas grill outside with a side burner, I would not get into pressure canning. The weight of the canner when it’s full of water, plus the prolonged cook time is murder on most electric cal-rod stoves, and those glass topped stoves.
Should read the pot needs to have at least two inches covering the tops of the jars.
You don’t NEED a special ‘water bath canner’ IF you have a soup or stock-pot deep enough to hold the jars AND about 1-2 inches of water above them AND space to keep it from boiling over. Just be sure to have a rack of some sort in the bottom to keep the jars off the bottom of the pot to prevent breakage & promote more even heating. It may not hold as many jars, but it works, is perfectly safe, and wastes less energy if you don’t have enough jars to fill a full size canner pot.